Play It Again, Sam 🔄👋

👀 TLDR:

In this week’s What’s Appening, we cover Meta Connect 2024. Meta gave us a glimpse of an AR future with Orion glasses, arguably its most impressive hardware reveal ever. There were also big AI announcements, including Llama 3.2. We also have takes on the exits at OpenAI, prompting questions of future direction. And there’s news on the tech reviewer who got a taste of his own medicine, an Apple feature helping folks in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene, the AI Safety Bill, and more!

Our Top Take 🎬

 📱😎 Meta – Connect 2024 Shows AR Future and an AI Present

Remember that distant past when Meta wanted to be known for the Metaverse? At Meta Connect 24, we barely heard the “M” word, with all focus on subtle AR and, of course, AI. As to the former, Meta wowed with its new line of Ray-Ban AR glasses and the even more impressive prototype Orion glasses, which Zuck called “the most advanced glasses the world has ever seen.”. Those are for the future, however, but Meta’s present is firmly in AI. The big announcements included a digital AI voice assistant using the voices of John Cena and Kristen Bell (they were paid, so no Scarlett Johansson-style controversy here). And finally, Meta Llama 3.2, which, among other advances, incorporates small and medium ‘vision’ LLMs for analyzing charts, graphs, photos, and even maps. Some versions of Llama 3.2 are optimized to run on mobile devices, with a potential boost to developers creating AI-powered apps, too. We often throw shade at these Big Tech ‘events,’ but this was a good one from Zuck and Co.  #BetterConnect Read more here.

📍 Meanwhile at 3Advance

👀 🔍 Spotlight: Irish Startup Week NYC 2024

Staying true to their Irish background, our co-founders have made their way to Irish Startup Week NYC 2024! Organized by Digital Irish, this exciting three-day event brings together Irish startup founders, Irish-American tech leaders, and key investors to foster networking, collaboration, and innovation. Darren will be mentoring this Thursday, and Paul is there alongside others from the Digital Irish Venture Fund.

📲 App of the Week: NotebookLM 

Google NotebookLM has continuously evolved since being unveiled at Google I/O 2023. NotebookLM is a personalized AI journal – Google aptly calls it a ‘collaborator’ – allowing users to upload documents and links and ask the AI for analysis. But new features go further, including Audio Overviews that can create custom AI-voiced podcasts based on your uploaded content. That feature went viral recently, so Google has doubled down with more features and customization controls for Audio Overviews. Check out NotebookLM via your Google Account.

🧐 Stat of the Week: $5B

📈📉 AI – Companies Lose Billions As Costs Come Into Focus

There has been a lot of focus on the profitability of AI companies recently. OpenAI itself has lost $5B this year alone; Anthropic somewhere in the region of $1B. The underlying costs for training and data requirements are huge despite preferential deals with providers. Microsoft Azure, for instance, is said to hook up OpenAI with friendly ‘mates rates’. Unfortunately for us, the mooted solution to this issue might be raising subscription prices. #AIBust Read more here.

🗞️ Other Stories

👋🤖 OpenAI – Departures Leave Questions About Direction of the Company

“A non-profit research lab” is how OpenAI was conceived. Yet, despite being told that it remains so and will never be a Big Tech Company™, we know that is not the case. It is trying to raise at a value of $150B to “increase returns for investors,” but it faces concerns over profitability (see above) and, of course, ethics. The company has also been hit with three key departures, including CTO Mira Murati. Just three of the 11 founders are left. And yes, this is clearly Sam Altman’s company now. But where does Sam want to take it? That’s the 150-billion-dollar question that nobody has a clear answer for. #SamDoorsOpen Read more here.

✍️ Quote of the Week:

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